Trials of Marco Diaz
by Lel0uch Vi Britannia
Summary: Challenge given by Telouch. After realizing that he was in love with his best friend at the worst of times, Marco decided to make some changes. Along with making himself comfortable in his new life outside of Earth, he finds out something about himself he never even knew; he is...!


**Hello, Lel0uch vi Britannia here and welcome to my Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Not only this is my first take on the franchise, but it is also my first take on a challenge, which was made by ****Teloch.**

 **I will follow what he expects from his challenge.**

 **Shipping(s): I won't tell. Lets leave it a surprise.**

* * *

Even since his fourteenth birthday, Marco Ubaldo Diaz thought the months following until his next birthday will be as boring as his days as a 13-year old. Boy was he wrong as many things have happened in his life. It feels like it was just yesterday when his best friend, Star Butterfly, has entered his life.

After meeting the future queen of Mewni, his life has been anything, but boring. Instead it was full of life, thrills, and adventure that he always dreamed of. To fighting monsters on a daily basis to getting used to his best friend's antics which was not much of a chore due to all the fun he had, but the activity that they spend the most together, which is also Marco's most favorite pastime, was Dimensional Travelling.

During their travels, Marco has seen a lot of things he would not have seen on any location in the planet Earth, and he enjoyed everything thing he had witnessed. Although, he would really like it if he suddenly forgot his short visit to the dimension that is inhabited by cats with human faces; the first native he saw from that very dimension is traumatically stitched into his mind should that dimension be mentioned.

Nonetheless, he loved all the dimensions he had been to and all the sights he saw. Due to his many adventures with his best friend, he has made a list of all of the adventures he had. He wish he had his list with him right now and a camera because he wish to properly commemorate with what he is currently witnessing

The Soulrise is truly a breathetaking phenomenon, which is sad since it can only be seen once a year to see its amazing beauty. Oh well, at least he knows where to celebrate his future birthdays; speaking of which, his 15th birthday has just started.

"Happy Birthday." Whispered by his female friend, Kelly.

Marco nodded in gratitude with a smile on his face as he continued to watch the Soulrise.

* * *

He did not know how long they were staring at the sky of what is essentially hell, but he did not care. Although, it saddened him to see it end. He and Kelly got down from the watchtower. The two were quiet, reminiscing the Soulrise in their minds, as they walked back to their friends.

After a while, Marco finally spoke.

"I'm going to be honest with you Kelly," He started.

The girl with aquamarine hair looked at the recently aged 15 year old boy.

"What is it, Marco?" She asked with a curious look

"Ever since I came to Mewni and became Star's squire, things has been pretty rough." Marco explained as he now reminisce his rough days in Mewni, but the smile did not disappear nor falter from his face. "Seeing the Soulrise really raised my spirit."

Kelly giggled a little before pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Was that joke?"

Honestly his choice of words were unintentional, but Marco chuckled along with her.

"Maybe."

The two teens then laughed out together at Marco's small joke for a good whole minute.

Kelly gave Marco a small smile, "Glad to see you're back to your usual self, Marco."

"Yeah." Marco said solemnly as he reflected back to his first visit to Lava Lake Beach. A thought came to mind, "Hey Kelly, quick question."

"What?"

"Your friend, Jorby was it?" He asked to which Kelly nodded in confirmation, "What does he mean by sparring partner?"

"Oh, that? Just like Star, I like fighting."

Marco chuckled. He wondered how his best friend and Kelly became friends with each other. Of course, it was because of Star's love of fighting.

"As you can tell when you fought him, he's strong. I mean, really strong."

"Yeah, I noticed."

Jorby is pretty big and stronger than any monster that Marco has fought before; not only that, the Earth native could tell Jorby has combat experience. Marco was lucky that the monster dog was in a fit of rage, which made Jorby's attacks easy to dodge since he spent too much time putting strength behind his attacks.

"Other than Star, not many could keep up with me. So far, Jorby is the only other one who is close to my level."

"Really?" Marco asked with curiosity, he then look at her from top to bottom. Kelly seems to have a good enough physique to be a fighter, but she hardly looks like she can handle a big guy like Jorby.

Speaking of Kelly, she feels a little insulted by the way Marco looks at her.

"Are you underestimating me?" She rhetorically asked with a half a glare and a raised eyebrow.

When she mentioned that certain word, Marco immediately berated himself mentally. He really should have learned his lesson by now from his experience with handling Star.

He raised his hands up and took a breathe so he could pick his words wisely.

"You're right. I'm sor-"

 **Shing!**

Reaching into her large mass of hair, Kelly pulled out a broad and heavy double edge sword which she immediately used in a slashing motion.

"Woah!" The male latino exclaimed as he dodged at the last second by jumping away. The sword was so close of landing a hit that it trimmed the tips of Marco's bangs.

Kelly smirked as she brandish her sword in a threatening pose. Marco had to admit, that sword looks it could do more than just cut and break bone; Kelly's sword has the potential to grind his bones into dust with one hit.

"Impress yet?" She taunted.

Marco was about to try and calm down the situation, but the feeling of an exciting fight went to his head. Marco wonders if it is because of the adrenaline from dodging the slash or the seemingly natural tendency of fighting due being in Lava Lake Beach has anything to do with the two suddenly wanting to fight. Either way, he jump back a few more feet before going into a karate stance.

At first, Kelly was confused by Marco's stance, wondering what exactly he is doing, but she saw the battle ready look on his face. Kelly held her sword in a more proper sword stance when wielding a big weapon like her sword. Now that the two were healed of their broken hearts, both of the two teens have a calm enough mind to properly engage in battle.

"To answer your question," Marco pretended to think for a second, "Not really."

Kelly glared, "What?"

Her voice was filled with so much anger that one wrong word and she will attack with all her might.

"I mean, that's a cool sword and all, but can you really use it?"

Instead of verbally answering his question, Kelly went straight into a downward slash attack. This time, Marco managed to dodge it on time without physically making contact with the weapon. Kelly put too much strength behind her attack that she made the mistake of plunging her weapon deep into the sand.

The sand in Lava Lake Beach is more dense than normal beach sand that you would on Earth, which made it hard for the aquamarine-haired girl to pull out her giant sword. Bad for Kelly, but good news for Marco as it allowed him to look for a weapon somewhere in the beach.

From his karate lessons and the times he fought alongside Star, he has learned to use his surrounding to his advantage; for example: use an umbrella as a makeshift sword. Just like before from his interrupted fight with Jorby, Marco grabbed a nearby beach umbrella and folded it.

Marco saw that Kelly was still having trouble of pulling out her weapon. He ran back at her with the intention of hitting her hard on the head along with the hope of the possibly of disorientating her.

Kelly gasp as she saw him ran up to her. She quickly gather up all the strength she could muster before she finally succeeds in pulling out her sword on time as she block the strike.

The latino male knew that his makeshift weapon could hardly withstand a single blow from Kelly's sword due to the difference in mass and weight, so he jump away from the weapon's limited range.

Kelly gave a low growl, both frustrated and impressed by Marco's agility. She quickly calms herself down before sheathing her sword back inside her hair; what is great about having a pocket dimension in her hair is that she is not slowed down by all the mass inside her hair at all.

Mimicking Marco, the aquamarine-haired teen girl grabbed a nearby beach umbrella before going into another sword stance. Marco followed her lead and copied her stance as well.

The two stared off as they carefully look at each other, waiting for slightest of movement which will tell them went to strike or block. Sweat trickled down Marco and Kelly's temples as their breathing slowed to the point that they can feel and hear their own heartbeat.

"YEAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

It was Kelly who let out that battle cry, not wanting to stand like a statue any longer, but Marco stood his ground as he waited for Kelly to come close. Kelly went for another downward slash, but Marco blocked it and when Kelly draws back her weapon, Marco counter attacks by slashing at her which Kelly also blocks. This went on for a while as both tried to slash at other, but the other block it every time.

The teenage girl decided to change tactics by going for a quick stab at Marco's stomach with the tip of umbrella, but the latino teen easily avoided that also. While Kelly pulls back her sword, Marco immediately went for a horizontal slash attack at Kelly's head, but she also dodged his attack by bending down her knees so Marco only managed to hit her hair.

After dodging his attack, Kelly sweep kicks Marco's legs, which in turn made him fell down onto the dark sand on his back. Kelly immediately tried to land a hit, but the latino teen recovered his senses on time to block Kelly's umbrella with his own.

The aquamarine-haired girl tried to hit him several times, but Marco kept on blocking and dodging by rolling to the side. While rolling around the dark sand to evade, Marco let go of his makeshift weapon and grabbed handfuls of sand in both hands.

Marco then rolled to his back, sat up and yelled, "TAKE THIS!"

He toss both handfuls of sand at Kelly, who recoiled from the unexpected tactic. Though her eyes were protected from the sand, some of the it got into her mouth

"Hey!? Not fair, dude!" Kelly manages to exclaim as she cough violently while spitting out the sand.

Taking advantage of the situation, Marco quickly retrieves his umbrella, which he uses to disarm Kelly by striking her hand. The squire of the future queen of Mewni then tackled Kelly onto the black sand.

Kelly tried to struggle from under him, but it was a futile attempt as Marco was now mounting on top of her while also pressing his makeshift weapon against her throat to further pin her down.

Marco smirk a little when he notices that Kelly finally calm down.

"You give up?"

Kelly spit out the last of the sand before admitting defeat.

"Yes, I give up. You win. Please get off of me." She said with a defeated voice

The latino teen squire complies to her request before lying on his back next to her. Kelly could have gotten up, but decided to relax on the sand. Due to lava, it made the black sand warm and toasty enough to get rid of any fatigues.

After a while, Kelly spoke up.

"You totally cheated, dude."

Marco laughed, "There were no rules given."

Kelly could not argue with him on that logic, she did suddenly challenge him to a fight.

"You relied too much on your weapon." He then tells her.

The girl with a bush for hair giggled, "Jorby always tells me that every time we spar. I make it work, at least."

"Yeah, but you can't win with your sword all the time. What happens if it breaks? Or worse, lose it?"

Kelly scoffs at the possibilities, "I got plenty where that came from." She tells him as she dug deep into her hair and pulled out two slender long swords.

"Wow, you really like swords." Marco said the obvious before laughing out lightly.

As a kid, he always interested of wielding a sword, which is one of the reasons he took a martial arts class in the first place. He did not want to accidentally stab himself, after all.

"So what's up with you holding your arms like this when we first started fighting." Kelly asked while mimicking Marco's stance while lying down on the sand. "No offence or anything, but it looked like you were going to dance while holding swords."

"It's not a dance!" Marco exclaimed before groaning. First Eclipsa and now Kelly? Who's next, a bird?

"Then what was it?" She asked as she sat up.

Marco also sat up, "Karate!" He yelled, wanting to drill the information in her head, but she just blink in confusion. "You know, martial arts? A fight-style?"

Again, Kelly just blink in confusion.

The latino teen sighs in defeat, "Did Star even tell you about karate while she was still on Earth?"

"No, not really." She replied as she recalled some mirror calls from Star. "All she told how awesome of a fighter you are, which she wasn't kidding. You rock dude."

Marco's mood brighten from her compliment. He then took a moment to think on how to explain karate properly.

"Where did you learn how to fight?"

"Firsthand experience." Kelly answered with pride. "When Jorby and I were kids, we'd spar each with other and learn from our mistakes every time one of us loses and we still do it. Even back then, I used a sword."

 _"Not a bad system."_ Marco commented thoughtfully.

"Well karate teaches you how to fight with your body."

 _"Sounds kind of boring."_ Kelly thought, not wanting to say it out loud. Though she is very strong for her age, she prefers using weapons to win her battles.

"Well, does karate teaches you how to use a sword?."

"Yeah, it does. Only if you're a green belt at least."

"Green belt?"

"Yeah, karate, like any martial art, has a belt system that tells you how advanced you are." He explains to her, "I'm a black belt, which is the highest belt you can earn in a form of martial art."

Kelly rubbed her chin in thought as a smirk formed on her face.

"So does that mean you're among the best fighters on Earth?" She asked with a thought in mind.

"Not necessarily, I'm just a highly advanced fighter than most people, but not exactly near the top." Marco quickly explained to her to avoid any misunderstanding. "Plus, I only have a black belt in one form of martial arts."

"You mean there are other forms?"

"Yeah," He replied as he held up a hand. "To name a few from the top of my head, there's taekwondo, judo, kenpo, aikido, boxing, and kickboxing. And that's just the tip of the ice berg, Kelly." Marco said with pride of his home dimension

"Wow, that's quite lot of fighting styles." Kelly said with admiration, "Sounds like humans like to fight a lot. Competitive much?"

Marco chuckled. She was sort of right on the fact that humans tend to fight a lot.

"That's a understatement; we humans went through a lot of wars for numerous reasons." He told her. "Now a days we try to settle fights with words, but that doesn't stop others from using violence."

"Does that mean you like to fight also?"

That question Marco made think back in his life. Ever since he was born, he was always been the 'safe kid' who avoids anything that scares him, especially conflicts, which is why he took karate lessons in the first place to defend himself.

"I'll be honest with you, Kelly. I only took karate lesson because I wanted to defend myself and because knowing how to properly wield a sword is cool, but ever since Star came into my life..." Marco took a time to look at the sky as he look up at the sky of the underworld. "I...just wanted to continue fighting... like its my life's purpose."

Marco looks down at his hands, they used to be very soft and smooth, but now they were hard and rough from all the fighting and training he has experienced, from fighting Ludo's old army to other beings from dimension and training along with the squires in Mewni. He went through a lot of physical pain over the past year, but slowly he started to enjoy them as they healed as the excitement of fighting in proper health filled him.

The latino turned to the extra-dimensional girl.

"You up for another fight?"

Kelly smirk as she stood up, "I thought you'd never asked."

He returned the smile as went into his usual stance, "Since there were no rules given last time, here's one: no weapons."

Kelly's smirk became a little devious, "Okay, I'll follow that rule if you follow mine."

"Which is?"

"Don't throw sand at each other."

Marco could only laugh at that.

* * *

 **Marco may as well be a black belt after spending 16 years in Hekapoo's dimension and after fighting numerous monsters.**


End file.
